The Mercedes CL Coupé is a star

ON PAPER the Mercedes CL Coupé had every base covered.

It was refined, luxurious and, in AMG guise, near-supercar quick. It was also highly exclusive finding only 128 buyers last year while its S-Class saloon sister shifted more than 1,200 units. In the eyes of label-conscious GT buyers all the CL lacked was that last ounce of subjective prestige next to cars such as Bentley’s Continental.

The CL-badge Mercedes has been using since the mid-1990s didn’t help, being too easily confused with much less prestigious family members. Luckily the new and newly-titled S-Class Coupé leaves no one in any doubt that this elegant beast is sired from the S-Class saloon, the world’s most successful luxury car. But there’s more than a new badge behind the renewed assault by Mercedes on Europe’s exclusive premium brands.

Mercedes promises the S-Coupé will be one of the most beautiful cars it has ever made. Either way it must surely rank as the most elegant machine in the manufacturer’s entire portfolio. The hard creases and arrow-like diving waistline beloved of Mercedes’ previous design language are replaced by soft elegant lines, subtly flared hips and smooth surfaces that do an incredible job of disguising this car’s huge 15ft length.

The cockpit is differentiated from the S saloon by huge digital displays stretching most of the way across the car, Bentley-inspired circular air vents and a third spoke on the steering wheel. This is a stunning interior but that colossal footprint and £100,000 price tag doesn’t translate to boundless cabin space unless you’re up front.

This may be a proper four-seater (not a two?plus?occasional-two like some rivals) but the sculpted rear seats wouldn’t be much fun for tall passengers on long journeys. There’s the choice of two models (the S500 and the S63 AMG), both delivering power to the rear wheels only.

The 4Matic four-wheel-drive system offered on the continent has yet to be engineered to work with right-hand drive. This being an unrepentant luxury car there are no diesel engines available or, perhaps surprisingly, a hybrid. Mercedes is yet to be convinced that the market is there for such a car. The S500 is powered by a 449bhp 4.7-litre engine that takes it from

0 to 60mph in an impressive 4.6 seconds to the accompaniment of a faint roar from the twin rectangular tailpipes. But this is no gas-guzzler. Mercedes claims the car is capable of an average 30mpg. The car’s two standout characteristics are the two traits every big GT car should possess (but not all do): an almost total lack of wind and tyre noise even at motorway speeds and a ride so supple, even on the standard suspension, that you have to question the merit of paying extra for the Magic Body Control system.

Look beyond the acronyms and the S-class Coupé is no less impressive and actually quite traditional

Factor in the excellent seats and you have a car so clearly designed to devour whole continents that polishing off France en route to a summer bolthole would be no more than a light snack. This is a heavy car and though it disguises that mass well in corners and steers accurately it was never designed to feel like a sports car.

If you want that you need to find another £28,000 for the S63 AMG flagship whose 5.5-litre V8 pushes power to 577bhp, cutting the 0 to 60mph time to 4.2 seconds.

The S63 instantly feels not only faster but more involving with better steering communication and a tighter grip of body movements on twisty roads. Yet that same incredible sense of refinement remains. Flourishes of carbon trim mark out the interior while bigger wheels, showy red brake callipers and quad exhaust pipes that shout louder (both visually and sonically) let everyone know you’re driving an AMG.

Not that you need do much driving these days. The S-Coupé benefits from Mercedes’ full armoury of assistance systems from drowsiness detection to a head-up display and the now rather excellent Distronic Plus cruise control that maintains a gap between you and the car in front at motorway speeds and stops, starts and steers the car in town.

THE system works so well that you are entirely inclined to believe Mercedes’ assertion that it will offer a fully autonomous car by the end of the decade. The most fascinating bit of gadgetry is not safety related at all but designed to enhance comfort.

It’s called Curve Tilting and is an extension of the Active Body Control suspension system Mercedes has been offering for 15 years to eradicate body roll. Curve Tilting goes a step further using a mixture of a windscreen mounted camera, steering wheel angle sensor and lateral acceleration measurements to read the road and lean the car into the curve like a motorbike.

We expected to hate it, we could certainly survive without it and it’s not set up with really spirited driving in mind. But we have to admit that once you get used to it it’s rather good fun. With so much technology on board it takes a concerted effort to focus your attention on the car beneath.

Yet look beyond the acronyms and the S-class Coupé is no less impressive and actually quite traditional. Both the S500 and S63 AMG are supremely desirable cars though it’s perhaps the more regal 500 that represents the best of the range. At around £97,000 it is significantly less expensive than a Bentley Continental GT, significantly more advanced and every bit as handsome.